My Chemical Romance: 'There's A Good Reason'

In the early months of 2014, as I was browsing the internet, I stumbled upon a band called My Chemical Romance, a punk rock band originating in New Jersey. After being shocked and a little bit scared after listening (almost exclusively) to PG top 40 pop songs my entire life, I began to really enjoy it. The song I most related to is “Famous Last Words” from their album The Black Parade, a tremendously heart wrenching, emotional, and hard hitting song. This song is all about overcoming life’s many challenges and carrying on with life even when you’re on your own. I continued to really enjoy and identify with this song for a couple of more months before kind of forgetting about it for a while. Then, a few more months later in my grade nine year,

At the Disco. Panic! At the Disco’s genre is technically pop-punk, their general sound tends to change from album to album. The song I’ve chosen by them is titled “There’s a Good Reason These Tables are Numbered Honey, you just haven’t Thought of it yet” from their first album A Fever you can’t Sweat out. This album (and this song specifically) is known for its dramatic feel, so much so that it is frequently referred to as baroque pop, or taking inspiration from baroque music which is a form of classical music known for its artisticness. I didn’t choose this song for the lyrics, but for the theatricality of it and the intense vibe it gives off. The best way that I can describe the feeling I get when listening to “There’s a Good Reason […]” is that every time I hear it, I feel as though I’m watching an entire suspenseful movie with the comical dramaticness of a silent film in three and a half minutes. This sounds ridiculous, but before I heard Panic! At the Disco’s music (especially this song), I don’t think you could have convinced me that music could be dramatic or suspenseful. “There’s a Good Reason […]” has truly expanded my mind on what music is and can

My next song is by an a cappella group called Pentatonix called “First Things First.” Imagine this: the most upbeat, studio produced, chart-topping, professional pop-rock song. Now imagine that, but with just voices. It may be hard to believe, but Pentatonix really does capture this exactly: the intricate drum beats, the thrumming bass, the tight harmonies and the thrilling lead vocals, not to mention the lyrics. The lyrics talk about how we shouldn’t become big headed or full of ourselves, no matter what ammount of success we achieve throughout our lives. I think the reson why I enjoy this song (and Pentatonix) so much is the fact that they take two music styles (a cappella and pop) and meld them together. Not only this, but they do it really well: Pentatonix are two-time Grammy award winners. I think that Pentatonix really taught me that in music, nothing can ever really limit you (even a lack of instruments) if you have a passion for it in the first